Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the fords of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Letter. Protestants, "Say now Shibboleth, and he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right. "The interpretation of the first word is added by St. Jerome, (Haydock) and denotes also "a running water "(Menochius) whereas the Ephraimites pronounced a word which signifies "a burden "not being able to utter properly sh, or schin, for which the substituted s, or samec, sobloth. (Haydock)
In the same natioin, a variety of pronunciation frequently distinguishes the inhabitants of the different provinces. The Galileans were thus known from the rest of the Jews, Matthew xxvi. 23.
